Dragonia old
by Dixxy Mouri
Summary: DISCONTINUED Rowen and Ryo are suddenly thrust into the strange world of Dragonia, where kings, monsters, and magicians reside. With the help of a little dragon named Lucky, Strata and Wildfire must succeed in their quest, or die trying.
1. Prologue

Dragonia

By Dixxy

Prologue

"Lucky, my paws hurt! Where are we going?"

"Relax, Mel, I have everything under control!"

"You'd better, because these woods are creepy!"

Lucky laughed, looking behind him at his companion. "Melody, nothing in these woods are going to hurt you! We're dragons, and no wolf or bear is going to be stupid enough to try and attack us, you hear me? We're both perfectly safe!" He perched himself on a branch, smiling as his girlfriend sat beside him. The two dragons sat quietly, Lucky looking out at something expectantly.

The two dragons had been close friends ever since they were hatchlings. Neither knew who their parents were and from that they had bonded, turning to each other for everything from the happiest news to the scariest windstorm. On the coldest nights the two would cuddle up together, Lucky using his wings to shield Melody from the cold. They would hunt for nuts and berries together, storing them in a hollowed out tree trunk that they had dubbed their home.

Lucky was a rather ambitious and adventurous Night Wind dragon with wild blue fur and mischievous eyes. The small dragon loved the night and often stayed up late to look at the stars and the moon high in the Dragonian sky. He cared for Melody very deeply and was very protective of her. The idea of harm coming to his sweetheart was something he didn't like to think about.

Melody was something of Lucky's opposite. She wasn't nearly as outgoing and was a cross-breed between a Morning Wind and a Southern Song. Unlike her beau, she preferred to watch the sunrise and liked to listen to the traveling bards who stopped in the small towns and villages of the world they lived in. Sometimes she got upset with Lucky for being so overprotective, but she loved him anyways.

Still, she was a little confused. "Lucky. . . what are you looking for?"

"Shh!" he said. "Look."

Melody looked to where Lucky was looking and gasped. "Are those. . . unicorns?" Sure enough, as the two dragons watched in stunned silence, a beautiful white unicorn was leading two smaller, golden unicorns through the woods. Melody gasped in amazement as their shiny coats glistened the in the beams of sunlight that escaped through the cover of the leaves above. "Lucky, how did you know about them?"

Lucky grinned. "I saw the mother with her young a few days ago. I though you might want to see them for yourself," he said. He laughed happily. "Unicorns are so rare now a days. Remember how Colby and Dragon Lord Alexander used to tell us about them and how it's considered good luck for a human to even see a unicorn?"

"Yeah. . . do you think they hide from humans on purpose?" asked Melody.

"Oh sure!" said Lucky. "If someone caught a unicorn, they'd put the poor soul on display in some zoo and charge a fee. That's not the way unicorns should be treated- they're beautiful, graceful, and dignified creatures, even when they're young. Would you rather see these three here out in the woods or through metal bars with people staring and pointing at them?"

"Of course not! That sounds awful!" said Melody, looking from her boyfriend to the unicorns. "Why would someone be so cruel to do such a thing, though, Lucky? They must be happier out here in nature, don't you think? Look at those babies- see how happy they are playing tug-of-war with that twig?"

"Some humans are greedy," said Lucky. He sighed. "Don't worry- I don't think our Dragon Tamers will be greedy humans. I'm sure they're brave, valiant fighters who know the difference between right and wrong and do their best to protect the people and creatures of this world!"

Melody sighed. "I don't know, Lucky, shouldn't we have found them by now?"

Lucky frowned. "Well. . . I'm sure they're out there, somewhere."

"Maybe they're from another world," said Melody.

"Hmm?" said Lucky. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you know that some Dragon Tamers aren't from this world- maybe that's why we haven't found them yet," said Melody brightly. "But don't worry- they could come here some day, right? And it'll be great! The four of us can travel around Dragonia and fight monsters and Egg Eaters and maybe even take the Dragon Knight or Maiden tests!"

"Yeah, right!" said Lucky. "As fun as that sounds, the Dragon Knight test is really dangerous and you know that! Thirty men will enter a Dragon Knight test and only about five make it- the rest quit, fail, or die trying. I don't think the Dragon Maiden test is much safer, to be honest with you. The two of us and our Tamers could be killed, and I don't want that to happen, Melody. Not unless something happens that forces us to do something like that."

"I guess you're right," said Melody. She opened her mouth to say something, then picked one of her ears up, an inquisitive look on her face. She turned to her companion with a worried look on her face. "Lucky? Did, did you hear something?" Lucky shook his head. "Something's not right."

"Look! The unicorns are running away!" said Lucky. Sure enough, the mother unicorn had begun to whiny at her two young, encouraging them to drop their twigs. With a the elegant grace and dignity that all unicorns had, they began to run deeper into the woods, the muscles under their beautiful fur rippling as they moved in haste.

Melody's eyes widened in fear as they heard the sound of some rather unpleasant sounding humans in the distance. "Someone's coming, and they don't sound very nice. Come on, let's get out of here before something bad happens!" With that, the two Dragons jumped off the tree branch and started to fly out of the forest, their wings beating madly behind them as they made their journey.

Lucky flew as fast as his wings could take him, seeing an opening in the tree line up ahead. "Come on, Melody! I see an opening! We're almost out of here and home free!" he called out. He straightened his body, locking his arms and legs at his side and he shot through the opening and out into the open air.

Hovering several feet above the ground, Lucky laughed. He and Melody were out of danger. He sighed happily. "That was a close one, huh Melody? I just hope that those unicorns we saw got away, too," he said. Lucky looked up at the sky. "But I'm sure that they're all right. They are unicorns, after all, and unicorns are really good at avoiding humans that they don't like. I don't think those humans we saw are going to get them, right, Melody?"

No answer.

"Melody?" he asked, turning behind him. Melody wasn't there. "Melody!"


	2. Chapter One

Dragonia

By Dixxy

Chapter One: Peanut Brittle Surprise

(Rowen)

BZZZZ! BZZZ! BZZ! BZZZZ! BZ-

BAM!

I swore when I realized I had thrown yet another alarm clock into the wall. "Damn it, not another one," I grumbled. That was the third alarm clock I'd broken this week. I got up and cleaned up the debris, then sat back down on my bed. I yawned, stretched, and picked my watch up off of my bedside dresser.

10:34.

"Whatever," I mumbled. I shook my head, blinked, and stretched again. I'm not a morning person, so naturally, getting up is going to be a chore in itself. Once I was barely balanced on my two feet, I clopped over to the bathroom, my bare feet slapping against the hardwood floor of my room and the ceramic tiles of the bathroom floor. I skinned out of my boxers, stood in the shower, and blasted on the cold water.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Now I was awake.

After getting dressed, I went downstairs to find Yuli was sitting at the kitchen table playing with his Game Boy and eating a bowl of some sugary kid cereal. I waved sleepily at him, and he gave me a thumbs up in response. "G'morning, Yuli," I said, stifling a yawn.

"You're up early."

"I set my alarm. You know Mia wants me to start getting up earlier." I cleared my throat and began to do my Mia impression, shaking index finger, stink eye, and all. "'Rowen Touma Hashiba, if you don't want to have the tardy record you had last year then don't you even think about sleeping in late, young man, ragh, ragh, ragh!'" Yuli laughed, snorting in the process, which caught him by surprise. I looked around, scratching my head. Something was missing. "Say, where are Mia and Ryo this morning anyways?"

"Grocery shopping. They looked really sad, though, but I couldn't figure out WHY. It's not a Monday, it's still summer, and it's a really nice day outside," said Yuli. He looked over at the calendar, trying to see if he could figure out what was bothering them. He frowned. "Oh. Now I get it."

Still a little sleepy and not registering what he was talking about, I went over to the calendar to see what he meant. I took a closer look at the date, thinking the number over. I scratched my head- that date held some sort of importance, but what was it? Then I realized what he was talking about.

It was exactly one year since Sage, Cye, and Kento had disappeared.

I sat across from Yuli and rubbed my temples. What a major bummer. I guess the pain of knowing they're gone will never go away. Sometimes it feels like it was just the previous day that they'd been spirited away as memories of Sage's sly grin, Kento's boisterous laugh and Cye's calm outlook on life were brought back to the surface.

Mia, Ryo and I have pretty much given up on ever finding them alive. Something got to them. I know it was a something- had it been a someone, Ryo and I would have been able to sense their armors and we would have found the bodies. Then the police could conduct an investigation and find out who the killer was. But no. They must have been obliterated- nothing was left except for a burnt piece of rubber that had been Cye's watch.

Yuli hasn't given up yet. "But they didn't find the bodies, and if they were obliterated then Cye's watch wouldn't have survived!" he constantly argued. "Ryo, Rowen, I know they're in the Dynasty waiting for you come after them! Why don't you rescue them? Why are you just abandoning them!"

"But Talpa or whoever took them would have shown themselves by now," Ryo always retorted.

Sometimes, I wonder if they are still alive and kicking. After all, I keep having a really weird dream where I hear their voices and suddenly I'm attacked by a kind of attractive woman with white hair and red eyes. The woman was evil, I'm sure of it, but I wasn't sure if the dream actually meant something other than just a delusion I was having.

Then again, that wasn't the only weird thing that happened to me. A few months earlier, I had been on the balcony leading off of the room I shared with Ryo. It was around eleven or so, so I was just getting up. That was when I heard a far-off voice begin singing an American song I'd learned in a chorus class called "Somewhere, Out There". Feeling kind of stupid, I answer back with the second verse and before I knew it, I was singing the duet all by myself and somehow hearing the response. Was I crazy? Or was it something. . . more?

I had to find something else to talk about. "How long have Mia and Ryo gonna be gone?" I asked.

"A few hours," he said. "There isn't a lot of food in the house. I had pretzels for breakfast."

"Why?" I asked. "Isn't there any cereal left?"

"Nope. Even if we did, no milk."

"Oatmeal?"

"Nope."

"Toast?"

"Nope.

"Bagels?"

"The one Ryo found this morning looked more like a pistachio donut."

"Cream of Wheat?"

"Eww!"

"Eggs?"  
"Uh, uh."

I blinked. Wow, we really WERE at a loss for food. I stood up and went digging through the cabinets. I finally found half a bag of potato chips and a few Twinkees, then dubbed it breakfast. I brought it back to the table, where Yuli was smiling. "I told you so," he said.

"Man, you'd think Kento was still here," I said. I winced at the mention, but stuffed a Twinkee into my mouth anyways. A little stale, but still edible. I picked up a magazine and started to skim through it while I made the most of my really, really stupid breakfast. Once the last of the chips were gone and Yuli had stolen my last Twinkee, I washed it down with a glass of tap water and tried to decide on what to do next.

My stomach rumbled. I was still hungry. "Rowen, what else can we eat?" asked Yuli.

"I don't know," I said. Then, I got an idea. "I know! Go put in a video and I'll find some popcorn or candy or something. When Ryo and Mia get back we can eat something healthy to make up for all the junk we've been eating like a salad or something, all right?"

Yuli's eyes widened. "Yeah!" he said. "Popcorn! Candy! Rowen you rock!" He scampered off into the den and began to tear through our entire library of videos. I laughed- Yuli was really a good kid. So sociable and friendly and outgoing. He'd turn out all right. I just knew it.

Little did we know it, but something was outside. Something unlike anything we'd seen before. It was watching me and Yuli through the window as we munched on popcorn and some peanut brittle I'd found in the back of the cabinet. Its stomach rumbled in hunger as it watched us, licking its lips in anticipation.

It would have its meal, soon.

The only problem was, it had to decide when to strike. When it would eat. Whether or not it was worth watching the movie we were watching (the talking box was fascinating to this creature). And of course, whether or not it would need to use force to obtain its meal.

It still waited in perfect, complete silence.

It grinned when Yuli went to open the window to get some fresh air.

"That's better," said Yuli. "It was getting stuffy in here."

"Yeah, I'll agree with you on that one," I said, taking another mouthful of popcorn. Yuli had chosen one of the Pokémon movies. Currently we were watching Rocket Gang trying to pull another fast one on Satoshi, Kasumi, and Takeshi. Personally, I wanted to see Purin- that little pink thing was funny as hell!

Yuli sat back down on the couch with me, taking another piece of the peanut brittle we'd discovered. Mia must have bough the "Big Bucket O' Peanut Brittle" on an impulse, but I did have to admit- it was good. Still, a bucket of peanut brittle? I didn't quite understand.

Me, I was concentrating on the popcorn. I like peanut brittle all right, but I like popcorn a lot more. I like buttery foods and I like salty foods. With popcorn, I get the best of both worlds with a nice soft, yet crunchy package. Oh sure I hate it when the kernels get stuck between my teeth, but so is life.

Without warning, something zipped into the house through the window, crashing into a plant on its way inside. Yuli and I both screamed in both terror and surprise, and ducked for cover, jumping over the back of the couch and keeping down low to prevent the thing from seeing us- whatever it was, it was ALIVE.

"What was that?" asked Yuli in a hushed whisper.

"I don't know," I replied.

"Go check it out."

"Me? Why me?"

"You're the one with the armor!"

"You have the Jewel of Life!"

"You're older!"

"You're. . . friendlier."

"If you don't go out there I'll tell Mia you put me in danger," said Yuli.

No beast could be as scary as Mia when she's upset- hell hath no fury like a pissed off Mia Koji. Well, that certainly settled it. I was going out there to see what it was. And, if I was lucky, then MAYBE it wouldn't kill me in the process and smash me into tiny bits right before Yuli's eyes.

_Hold on, Rowen. You're a Ronin Warrior. You've broken mystical armor before. You stood up to Lady Kayura and didn't get killed. That thing couldn't have been all that big- hell, you could probably step on the damned thing and kill it if need be. Just relax and know you're the superior being,_ I assured myself.

Taking a deep breath, I crawled my way to the other side of the couch. I could hear that whatever the was, it was eating rather noisily and sloppily. I could tell if it was the coffee table or some other hard surface, but it eventually let out a loud, noisy belch and went back to eating.

I looked at the coffee table. It looked fine. But from my belly-to-floor position, all I could see was a pair of scaly wings and a chubby little tail with a crescent moon perched on its tail, which was swinging back and fourth as it ate. It didn't appear to be too big at all, so maybe I'd surprise it.

I jumped up. "Got ya!" I cried.

The thing looked at me quickly then began to fly around the house, taking another plant down with it. I somehow managed to catch the plant while Yuli took off after it, his arms flailing as he ran. "Wait! We don't want to hurt you if you don't want to hurt us! Come back!"

Once I put the plant back up, I started running after it and Yuli again. I just barely caught my balance as it flew back down the stairs, Yuli on its tail. "Close as many windows as you can- I want to see what that thing is!" I instructed. Yuli nodded and we both began to close any open window we could find. The thing was now trapped.

Once I was pretty sure we had all the windows closed, I went back into the living room to see what it had been eating. It didn't take my super intelligence to figure out it was the peanut brittle from the mess of saliva, peanut chunks, and claw marks lining the plastic bucket and the coffee table.

"I think it was hungry," said Yuli.

"Yeah, but was the peanut brittle just an appetizer?" I asked. Yuli and I both gulped. I cleared my throat, trying to change the rather grim subject I'd brought up into a more. . . safe subject. "Let's arm ourselves. I'll get into subarmor and you get the Jewel of Life. Then we're protected."

"I never let it leave me," he said, pulling it out from under his shirt. I just nodded after transforming into the familiar metallic-blue and white subarmor. Once I flexed my joints and knocked against the hard surface, the two of us crept silently and quietly upstairs, listening carefully for the thing.

Soon, I heard noise coming from the inside of Yuli's room. I placed a finger to my mouth. "Yuli, you stay here. I'll go in your room and try to find it, all right? It might be dangerous and Mia will kill me if you get hurt. Stay tight and if Ryo and Mia come home, tell them what happened." Yuli nodded, and I placed my hand on the doorknob, mentally preparing for the worst.


	3. Chapter Two

Dragonia

By Dixxy

Chapter Two: From a Dragon's Point of View

(Lucky)

The more I thought about it, the more I realized how stupid it was of me to just fly into the human's house without an invitation. This wasn't Dragonia, after all, and I was learning that in this world peanut brittle and an open window was NOT an invitation to come inside someone's house like it was in my own world. In fact, the two humans I saw didn't seem very pleased with it at all.

_Nice one, Lucky, now you're in even MORE trouble than you were before you dolt! Those humans are going to kill you for breaking into their home!_ I thought to myself. _Now you'll NEVER find out what happened to Melody and if she's in danger she won't ever get a chance to be rescued!_

My name is Lucky, and I'm a dragon. I'd lived just about my entire life without ever leaving Dragonia, so the world I was in was even more strange and unusual then you might think. And as I was flying through the house trying to save my own life, I was on a mission.

Melody, my girlfriend, had vanished under very mysterious circumstances one day after we'd gone to watch some unicorns. When we'd heard a strange and sudden noise, the two of us turned on our tails and fled. After I left the forest, I found that she wasn't behind me and I was suddenly very scared and worried. So, after a day of flying through the woods and calling for her, I decided that there was only one thing left to do.

I had to find my Dragon Tamer.

And at that point I had two psycho-killer humans instead.

I decided to hide in what looked like someone's bedroom. There was a bed and a dresser and a desk and several things that I had no name for. The window, unfortunately for me, was closed and I was too small to open it. That meant I needed to hide before one of those humans came in and hurt me. So I tried to dive under a pillow in hopes that they wouldn't be able to find me.

Click. Click.

Someone was in the room.

"Hello?" the human called out. From the sound of the voice, it was probably the tall one with the blue hair. And, since he was bigger than the smaller one, he was probably more dangerous. I crouched further into the hiding spot, holding my breath as I waited for him to leave. "Hello? I know you're in here! Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

_How stupid do I LOO-OOK?_

I heard the sound of feet on floor coming towards the bed. The person sat down on the bed, causing the mattress to sink in and my hiding place to fall over. The human looked over at me, his mouth dropping as he raised his eyebrows. I whimpered, hiding behind my front paws, shaking in fear. Yup, it was all over now. He was going to kill me!

Much to my surprise, I felt something rubbing on the back of my neck and a slight chuckle in accompaniment. I removed my paws and looked at the human to see he was smiling and chuckling to himself, and NOT in a sick, sadistic manor. "You poor little thing- you're more scared of me than I am of you, aren't ya?"

I blinked in confusion. "You don't want to hurt me?"

The human then began to scream. "You can TALK?"

I cocked my head to the side. "Why are you surprised that I can talk?"

Much to my amusement, the human couldn't come up with an answer. He did, however, manage to flap his jaw up and down several times as he scurried backwards and pointed at me. He then proceeded to speak a long line of gibberish, never taking his eyes off me the whole time.

_What a strange, strange world. . ._

"Is it safe?" the small human called from outside the closed door.

"Uh, yeah- I think it's friendly."

"HE- I'm a boy!" I corrected.

"Right. HE is friendly."

The little human slowly opened the door and walked in. After closing the door behind him, he looked over at me with wide eyes. "Wow. . ." he said in amazement. He walked over to me in a dumbfounded state, bending over to get a closer look at me. I scrunched up my face in confusion. "What is it- uh, he?"

"I'm a dragon," I said. "Haven't you two ever seen a dragon before?"

". . . he talks?"  
"That's a dragon?"

I lowered my head in frustration. The humans of this world, at that point, did not appear to be very intelligent. That, or they were just very ignorant. I grumbled and looked up at them again. "Yes, I can most definitely talk, and yes, last time I checked I was a dragon."

"But I always thought dragons were big and scary and breathed fire and-"

I shook my head. "No, that's only the fire breeds that can do that," I said. I flapped my wings as I looked between the two, both of whom looked utterly amazed (or dumbfounded- one of the two, at any rate). "There aren't very many dragons in this world, are there?"

"None," said the older human.

"But you are familiar with other worlds," I said.

"Well, yes, but most humans in this world aren't," said the bigger human. "Um, special circumstances." The little human snorted, which earned him a glare from the big human. "Knock it off, Yuli- we need to figure out why this little guy is here in the first place." He turned back to me. "Are you lost?"

"No, I'm not lost," I said. "I'm on a quest!"

The little one, who the big one had called Yuli, rolled his eyes. "Gee, you're doing REAL good so far," he said. Once again the big one glared at the little one. "What? We just chased him around the house and he was screaming and flapping his wings like a panic-stricken bird. That doesn't sound like a good start to me."

"He's right- I haven't had much luck," I said.

The big one crossed his legs and leaned on one arm. "Well, what are you trying to do?" he asked me. Then, he laughed and shook his head. "Before we do that, we should introduce ourselves. My name is Rowen, and this here is Yuli. Now, who exactly are you, Mr. Dragon?"

"Lucky," I said. "And I'm searching for my girlfriend."

"What happened to her?" Yuli asked.

"If I knew that I wouldn't be looking for her," I said through gritted teeth. I sighed heavily, regaining my composure. "So what I want to do is find my Dragon Tamer so I can get help from them in my journey to search for her. I thought that maybe I might find them in another world, so I've decided to try here for first, but I'm wondering if that was a good idea or not."

"Well, your heart is in the right place," said Rowen.

"My head isn't- I haven't made ANY progress!" I whined.

Yuli picked me up and dropped me in his lap, proceeding to scratch the back of my head. "You shouldn't get so discouraged, Mr. Lucky. So you had some back luck on your first try- you just need to persevere and you'll find her- going out of your own world takes a lot of courage."

Rowen cleared his throat. "So, would you mind telling us what a Dragon Tamer is?"

"Sure," I said. I leapt out of Yuli's lap and sat on the bed. "Simply put, the Dragon Kin are a whole order of people in the world of Dragonia, where I'm from. They're normal people who have a special connection to a dragon and a sword. The term 'Kin' is used because there are multiple ranks and statuses that are possible. A Dragon Tamer is the most basic rank."

"The connection to the Dragon makes sense, but the sword?" asked Rowen.

"Easy," I said with a grin. "Primarily, Dragon Kin are warriors. The Kin uses his or her sword in conjunction with their dragon to protect the world of Dragonia and its people. Lots of magic involved there, based on the type of dragon the Kin is paired with. I'm a Night Wind Dragon, so my Tamer's powers will derive from the skies, particularly those at night."

"Fascinating," Rowen breathed. He leaned in closer. "How does one tell a Dragon Kin from a normal person? Do they have some sort of a birthmark or do they do something weird that lets people know? From the way it sounds, it isn't easy to meet up with your dragon if you're a Tamer."

"Nope, there are no birthmarks or anything. If the time if right and the two living components are close by, the sword appears and then you know," I said. "That's one of my problems, though sadly it's a problem just about every dragon has ever faced when finding their Tamer."

"Is there a way we can help?" asked Yuli.

I sighed. "I'm afraid not," I said. "I-" Before I could say anymore, I heard a strange sound outside. I lifted my head up and looked around. "What's that sound? It was loud and strange!" Instinctively, I went to the window to look outside, where an astounding sight met my eyes. "WOW! THAT'S AWESOME!"

Rowen looked over me. "That's a car," he explained. "They're like. . . horse-less carriages. They run on these things called motors that are powered by a fuel source and a power source. The people getting out of the car are Ryo and Mia- they live here, too, though I think we should let them know about your presence. . . well. . . slowly."

"Why?"

"Do you remember out reaction to you?"

I scratched my head in recollection. "Oh yeah."  
"We should probably warn him about White Blaze, too," said Yuli.

"What's a White Blaze?" I asked.

"Grrr. . ."

I was about to get my answer.

"White Blaze! Bad!" the human named Ryo scolded. The large, white and black cat that they called a tiger sulked in the back, realizing that I was not a snack. With an exasperated sigh, Ryo turned to me, then turned to Rowen, his bright blue eyes demanding an explanation.

"He just came in," Rowen said. "He's trying to find his girlfriend."  
"How could you know that?" asked Ryo.

"He can talk," Rowen and Yuli responded in unison.

I nodded. "Yup. Sure can!"

The woman, Mia, stared at me in disbelief. "Now I've seen everything."

"No, there's still a lot out there," said Rowen. "Gotta be. Ever seen me in a dress?"

"No."

"There you go!"

"I don't get it," I confessed.

"Human joke," Ryo explained to me. He sighed, the looked over the other three humans carefully. They returned this look, all seeming very serious. "Okay, so we have a dragon who's a complete stranger in this world trying to find his girlfriend. What are we going to do next?"

"Do?" I asked.

"We're going to help you," Ryo said simply. He folded his arms and leaned against a doorway, a somewhat cheerful, yet serious look in his eyes. "It's our job as Ronin Warriors to help those in need. You're in need of help, so we're going to help you, that's what?"

"What?" I asked. "What's a Ronin Warrior?"

From there, Rowen and Ryo proceeded to explain to me what a Ronin Warrior was. I listened in interest, absorbing their tale about mystical armors, great demons, and ancient talismans. I was fascinated by the idea of it all and looked at the older two of the three males in a new light.

Then, I frowned. "But you said there were NINE armors- how come there's two of you?"

Rowen lowered his eyes. "Well. . . a few hundred years ago, Talpa seduced the first bearers of the four seasonal armors and they became Dark Warlords. He gave them a sort of immortality and they've, for the most part, been alive since then. We were able to convince them all to switch sides, but. . . Anubis sacrificed his life to save the last of the Ancient One's clan."

"Oh," I said, lowering my head. Then, I lifted it to look at them. "He. . . was your friend."

"Yes," said Ryo. "It was a brief friendship, but a strong one. He is missed dearly."

"The last three armors belonged to the other Ronin Warriors- Sage of the Halo, Cye of the Torrent, and Kento of the Hardrock," said Rowen. He had a faraway look in his eyes, like this story was even harder to tell than Ryo's story. "The five of us were a team. But. . . last year. . . right around this time. . . they vanished. . ." He turned his head and bit his bottom lip. "We were all out camping. Ryo and I were sharing a tent, and the other three had their own tent as well. The last night of the trip, I woke up to the sound of this screaming, and. . . we never. . ."

"Rowen. . . Ryo. . . I'm sorry to hear about-"

"The past is the past," said Ryo, shaking his head. "I don't know if anything can ever bring them back. The best we can do for them is to try and not let them die in vain. We've tried to help their families cope, and we haven't forgotten them. Maybe one day we'll learn the truth, but for now, we have to live our lives."

I cocked my head to the side. "You mean you don't know what happened?"

"Not a clue," said Rowen, sitting down in a chair. "There was this huge ring of burnt and dead grass along with a demolished wristwatch, but aside from that, not much to speak of. The police certainly didn't have an explanation for it, and even with all our knowledge of magic powers, we weren't sure what did it either."

"I wish I could help you with that in return for helping me out," I said.

"That isn't necessary," said Mia. "You don't need to repay us."

I shook my head. "That maybe be true, but if I find either Melody or my Tamer, or maybe even both, I want to do something nice for you guys in return." My eyes began to water. "You're all being so nice to me even if I did come into your house uninvited and flew around screaming and making a racket and-"

"It's all right, Lucky," said Rowen. "We'll help you. And that's a promise."


	4. Chapter Three

Dragonia

By Dixxy

Chapter Three: Hurtful Night

Quick AN: The simply beautiful song included in this chapter is entitled "To Where You Are" and is sung by a man named Josh Groban.

(Rowen)

Several days had passed since Lucky came to stay at Mia's. The little dragon was slowly but surely learning about our world, though there were a few. . . incidents. Like the time Lucky decided to investigate the dryer- I never would have pictured him with an Afro else wise. Or the countless cigarette butts he consumed. Or when he heard the teapot whistle for the first time and dove under one of the couch cushions.

But eventually, Lucky's antics became a normal part of our daily routine. He was slowly adjusting to life in the Mortal Realm and, little by little, the incidents became less frequent and less . . . extreme. Now he was only having trouble comprehending Pez-dispensers and the life as opposed to some of his more dangerous misadventures.

White Blaze soon accepted the fact that Lucky was not a snack, and, as a matter of fact, the two became friends. Once I saw Lucky taking a nap on top of a napping White Blaze, both breathing at the same rate. I almost burst out laughing, but I didn't want to wake them up.

Ryo, Yuli, Mia and I spent a lot of our time educating Lucky on our world. The dragon was an eager student, wanting to know as much about our world as we could tell him. I know that what we told him was very little, but where do you start when you need to teach someone about an ENTIRE world? Especially a world like the Mortal Realm, where there are several different societies and cultures ranging from the traditional to the liberal?

But in return, Lucky told us more about Dragon. He said that there were several breeds of Dragons that corresponded with an element, and, further more, sub breeds. For example, Lucky's main breed was Wind. Wind sub-breeds all correspond with the time of day- Morning, Noon, and Night. Lucky was a Night Wind. He also told us that with the power of a Dragon Tamer, a Dragon was grow in size to the point where he could easily hold all of us and several others on his back.

One night, after everyone else was asleep, I went into onto the roof to have some alone time. Educating Lucky was proving to be slightly draining, and I needed to get away for a little while to just have some time to think about different things. But once I found that peace and quiet, something I'd nearly forgotten rose to the surface with a vengeance.

Who can say for certain?  
Maybe you're still here  
I feel you all around me  
Your memories so clear

Lucky or no Lucky, there was no denying what had come and gone- the one year anniversary of Sage, Cye, and Kento's mysterious disappearances. Lucky had only been a temporary distraction from the pain filled truth. They were gone, it didn't look like they were coming back, and there didn't appear to be anything we could do to get them back. No. It was time to face the facts. By now, they were gone for good.

Deep in the stillness  
I can hear you speak  
You're still an inspiration  
Can it be  
That you are mine  
Forever love  
And you are watching over me from up above

"Are you guys up there?" I asked, looking skywards towards the stars and the moon. "Are you three of those stars, shining down on me and Ryo and Mia and Yuli? Looking out for us and your families?" I narrowed my eyes, trying to fight back tears. "Do you still care, even if you are. . . gone?" I cringed as I spoke the words- the words hurt to say. Even though I had long admitted that I had given up on them, it still hurt to say it, like part of me was still insisting that they were alive.

_But you know that by now they're logically dead- it's been a full year and a few days now,_ I reasoned. _You tried to sense their armors, but it didn't work. And you found that burnt circle of grass and the chewed up wristwatch- no one could have survived that. Not even Sage, Cye, and Kento. How do you know that? Because if they'd survived they would've still been here, but they aren't- they're gone._ I looked towards one of my shoulder, clenching my eyes shut.

Fly me up to where you are  
Beyond the distant star  
I wish upon tonight  
To see you smile  
If only for awhile to know you're there  
A breath away 's not far  
To where you are

I pulled my knees to my chest and hugged them, rocking back on my heels. It was a little chilly with me in just my boxers and a T-shirt, but I really didn't care. At least I was alive to feel that cold- my friends weren't all in that situation. "I really miss you guys- I miss Sage's determination and kindness. I miss Cye's good nature and teasing jokes. I miss Kento's straightforwardness and never-ending hunger. I miss you all!" I cried out, feeling the tears finally begin to well up in my eyes.

I hadn't even cried over what happened until that very moment- a whole year I had suppressed several emotions dealing with the loss, and it was only now that I was finally letting them go physically. And for all the pain it brought back, I felt somewhat relieved that I was finally releasing all of my bottled emotions.

Are you gently sleeping  
Here inside my dream  
And isn't faith believing  
All power can't be seen

"I don't know if you know this, but I dream about you guys sometimes," I said. "I dream that you're all still here with us- that you go to school with us and hang out with us and train with us. But that's all it is- dreams. Because you really aren't here to join in on where my life is going, and where Ryo's life is going. You aren't even alive to continue on with your lives- all of your lives are over, now."

_As my heart holds you  
Just one beat away  
I cherish all you gave me everyday  
'Cause you are mine  
Forever love  
Watching me from up above_

"I'm never going to let your memories go," I said, placing a hand over my heart. "My virtue is Life. Where your gifts of your lives have been seemingly snatched away, then I will life my life for not just myself anymore, but for the three of you. I'll do whatever I can to help your families when you should've been there to do so. It's the only thing I can do for you guys now."

And I believe  
That angels breathe  
And that love will live on and never leave

"Are you guys angels, now?" I asked softly. I smiled weakly. "Do you have wings up there in heaven? Are you there with friends and families who have already passed on, waiting for the rest of us to join you? You must all be so happy and care-free up there- no worries about school or the Dynasty any more. . . you can rest now. Relax." I laughed lightly. "Maybe you guys are even hanging out with Anubis and the Ancient One. If you are, say hi to them for me, will ya?"

Fly me up  
To where you are  
Beyond the distant star  
I wish upon tonight  
To see you smile  
If only for awhile  
To know you're there  
A breath away's not far  
To where you are

"Rowen?"

I looked over my shoulder to see Lucky flying over. I cocked my head to one side to give him a perch on my shoulder, which he gladly took. "What brings you out here at this hour?" I asked. "Wait, never mind, I get it- you're a NIGHT Wind Dragon- of course you're going to be out at this hour, it's in your nature."

"Yeah, you could say that, but I'm out here because I'm worried about- Rowen, are you crying?" asked Lucky. I lowered my head, slowly nodding. "Is it about your friends?" I continued to nod, clenching my eyes shut again. "Oh Rowen. . . please don't cry. I don't think they'd be happy if they knew you were crying."

"How would you know?" I snapped. "You never knew them!"

"Well, I know I wouldn't want my friends crying over me for the rest of their lives," he responded. "I don't see why they'd be any different. Rowen, you have every right to be upset over what happened but you need to move on with your life- your life will have no meaning if you continue longing over the past like this. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

I nodded. "I guess. . . but you don't know how strong the bond between the armors is."

"Maybe I won't ever, but who's to say it isn't much different from the bond between the Dragon and the Dragon Tamer?" said Lucky. "That's supposed to be a very strong bond, and from what you guys have told me, the armor bond is very strong, too. Maybe it would be like that if I ever lost my Tamer or vice versa."

"So you're trying to relate to me."

"Kind of."

I smiled, reaching up to scratch his chin. "Thank you for listening to me, Lucky," I said. Lucky nodded cheerfully. "And I think you're right about my needing to move on with my life. I won't ever forget them. And I'll try to help their families where I can in their absence. But I need to live my life."

"That's the spirit, Rowen!" said Lucky. He flew off of my shoulder and flew in front of my face. "Now, what do you say we go inside, have something to eat, and then get some sleep? You look dead tired right about now and you probably NEED a break, Rowen."

I scratched my head, nodding in agreement as I clumsily got to my feet. "Okay, Lucky," I said, starting to make my way towards the window. I turned to Lucky. "Just don't eat all of the peanut brittle again- the cost is really starting to add up and I don't think Mia's too happy about it." Over the past few days, we had learned that dragons have some sort of a craving for peanut brittle- they LOVE the stuff. That was also part of the reason why Lucky had some to us in the first time- he saw the peanut brittle and went nuts.

Lucky laughed sheepishly. "What can I say?"

"You can say, 'I need to go on a diet'. How's that?"  
"Ha, ha, Rowen, not funny," sad Lucky. He flew past me and into the house.

I was about to go in after him, but I stopped, looking up at the sky once more. "One day, I'm going to find the truth about you guys. I know I have to get on with my life, but something bad happened that day, and I WILL bring your murderer, or murderers, to justice, one way or another. Sage, Cye, and Kento, I WILL avenge you- mark my words, because it WILL be done!"

That said, I quietly went inside.

I know you're there  
A breath away's not far  
To where you are


	5. Chapter Four

Dragonia

By Dixxy

Chapter Four: Discovery

(Lucky)

By the time I had spent a week with Mia, Ryo, Rowen, Yuli, and White Blaze, I had learned a lot about their world. Computers, television (I liked that a lot!), digital clocks, cars, and all sorts of cool things we didn't have in Dragonia. Oh, sure we had magic that they couldn't comprehend (even with their "mystical armor" story), but Dragonia doesn't have the pure genius that is Jerry Springer.

Beautiful!

Computers were devices that Mia was very much an expert in, and worked with one of the computers in the household quite infrequently. Sometimes, right after having breakfast, she'd go to the computer room and not come down until dinner time. Sometimes I worried about that.

"Mia's grandfather left that computer behind," Rowen explained to me one day. The two of us and Ryo were going up to check on Mia, Ryo carrying a tray with a sandwich and a soda (a bubbly drink I didn't like- it tickled my nose). "It contains everything he knew about our armors and the Dynasty, but, trouble is, he left it in code, and so far we've only been able to crack some of the code. That's why Mia spends so much time up there- she's trying to find out more about our armors and maybe some information on some Nether Realm lords that Ryo and I might have to contend with. Now that it's just the two of us, we need to be extra prepared in case on an attack."

"What about the Warlords and Lady Kayura?" I asked, sitting on Rowen's head.

"Haven't heard from them since the end of our second fight against Talpa," Ryo said. He sighed heavily as he re-balanced the tray he was holding. "Sometimes I worry about them, too, but they aren't pushovers by any means- Kayura has the Staff of the Ancient One and the three Dark Warlords have been training with their powers for hundreds of years- they probably OUR armors better then WE do."

"They must be quite old," I said.

"They don't look it, though- they're a sort of strange mix between mortal and immortal. They can die- Anubis died saving Kayura from Talpa's control- but they don't age and they're all well over four hundred years old. If you saw them on the street you'd swear they were only about twenty-something years old," Rowen said.

"MAIL'S HERE!"

Yuli darted up the stairs past the rest of us carrying a stack of mail. Ryo nearly lost his balance and produced quite an amusing display as he tried to keep everything on the tray from toppling over. Rowen scolded Yuli for running, but the boy was already gone, more than likely in the computer room with Mia. Ryo grumbled something incoherent as he continued up the stairs.

Once we reached the computer room, Mia was sorting through the mail as Yuli stood looking over her shoulder. She looked disappointed as she named off the people who had sent her letters. As usual, there was a few letters from a man named Bill who Mia didn't seem to be very fond of. She looked up to see us, placing a large manila envelope in her lap as she smiled. "Hello," she greeted.

"Hey Mia- we bring you offerings of food," said Ryo, holding up the tray.

"Thank you," she said. Ryo placed it on a table on the opposite side of the computer (food and water don't mix well with computers, or so I've been told). The two older males then sat down, me still sitting on Rowen's head. Mia saw this and giggled. I twitched my tail happily.

Ever since I'd arrived at the mansion, I'd found myself on very good terms with Rowen (aside from our initial encounter). Sure, I got along well enough with everyone else, but somehow the blue haired one and I, as he put it, "clicked". He's more tolerant of me taking a seat on his head or on his shoulder than everyone else is, and he's better at explaining things I don't understand than Ryo and Mia are.

"Any luck?" Rowen asked, crossing his legs and putting one elbow on a table.

"Well. . . I think I'm getting closer," said Mia. She rolled away from the computer screen. "I was able to get everything organized to the point where I only have to crack it folder-by-folder." Sure enough, several pictures on the screen looked like tiny little folders with words under them. "There's a folder on your armors and the legend behind them, a folder on the Inferno armor that contains information on other armors that I haven't been able to access yet, and several folders whose names are encrypted, so I don't know what their content is. Yet."

"Hey, that's a lot of process!" said Ryo, cracking a grin. "You should be proud of yourself."

Mia smiled back, then frowned. "I'm trying to get into another folder that's a little bit bigger than the folder on your armors- I've got a prompt asking me for a password, but I'm not sure what it is," she said. "I've got it down to six characters, though."

"Six? Well, that only leaves. . . er. . . how many characters are possible?"  
"All the letters in the alphabet and the digits zero through nine- that means I can't just go through it systematically," said Mia. She groaned in frustration. "Even if it's numbers ALONE that's nine-hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine combinations!"

"Ooo. . . that'll take MONTHS to go through all those combinations!" said Ryo.

"I know. . . that's why I'm afraid I won't be able to get into these folders- if I have to do this for ALL of them then. . . GRAGGHH!" Mia screamed, grasping her hands to her head as she stared at the screen in frustration. "This stupid code! Oh, Grandfather! Why did you leave me with this damned code?"

"Mia, calm down!" Ryo said, standing up and putting his hands on her shoulder. He gently began to rub them and gave her a sympathetic look. "We know how much cracking your grandfather's code gets to you, but you can't loose your cool- if you do that then you'll NEVER crack it!" Mia nodded quickly, breathing in quite rapidly. Ryo shook his head. "Take a few slow, deep breaths and calm down." The woman complied, Ryo's suggestions seeming to work. "That's good."

"I have an idea!" I announced, jumping off of Rowen's head. I flew over to where Mia was a sat down right infront of the computer. I extended my paws out in front of me and began to hit random squares on the device infront of me. "Melody used to always say that I'm true to my name- maybe I can get the code to work!"

"Lucky, I don't know if-"

ACCESS GRANTED.

All eyes stared at the computer screen in disbelief, none more than Mia. I grinned and flew back to Rowen, who looked at me rather strangely. "I told you it was a good idea! See? Mia can get into her folder and I helped!" I said proudly, puffing my chest out and flapping my wings with pride.

Mia composed herself and turned to me with a wide smile. "Thank you, Lucky," she said. Her eyes closed slightly and she turned her head. "But I don't know if that will work again- that was a lucky guess, all right, but luck like that might not work for everything. Still, you probably saved my sanity for a few more months."

"Aw, it was nothing!" I said.

"Mia, what did Lucky unlock?" asked Yuli.

"Yeah, what is it?" asked Ryo.

"Hmm. . ." said Mia, clicking the folder open. It contained a single file, which she opened and began to scan. Rowen walked over to Mia to get a closer look (me going with him since I was sitting on his head again). Slowly, her eyes began to dilate as she slowly got to her feet, a shocked expression on her face. "Ryo. . . Rowen. . . this is BIG!"

"It is?" asked Ryo. "What's it say?"

"In short, there's a second set of armors!" she said.

"What?"  
"More armors!"

"Cool!"

Mia nodded, sitting back down. "It says here that after Talpa failed to take over the world, a sister of his also tried and failed. A second set of armors similar to your armors was made from her powers," she said. She scrolled down further. "The basic design of the armors is identical to your armors, but they're meant for female usage."

"Chicks with armors?" said Ryo.

"Why didn't the Ancient tell us about this?" I said.

"It says there that the female armor bearers can't know about the male armors- or, you guys- until they've developed their powers to the point where they can survive on their own against an enemy. Else wise, there's a risk that the girls will become dependent on the male armors," said Mia. She growled. "Bull."

"No, not necessarily," Rowen, pointing at the next paragraph. "The females can't use our sure kills- they use elemental magic, which is harder to control and learn than the sure kills are. In other words, if they can't use their OWN magic well enough and they see that the male armors can do a lot of damage with the attack magic of the sure kills, they won't bother furthering their skills any."

"Oh," said Mia. "That makes sense. I guess."

"So once they prove themselves with their magic skills, then they learn about the male armors without consequence- then they won't be so quick to rely on them if they can handle it themselves," said Ryo. "Personally I think that the whole idea is a little sexist on the part of the Ancient One, but maybe it has something to do with the influence of the armor over its bearer."

"Right," said Rowen. "Keep reading."

Mia nodded, continuing down. "When the second set was made, the Ancient added side properties to all of the armors. For instance, the Strata armor has a side element of music and the Torrent armor has an element that works with the slaying of some dark spirits such as Nether Spirits," she said. She turned to Rowen with a grin. "So, maybe you WEREN'T crazy when you heard that girl singing a few months ago."

Rowen blushed. "You don't think that was the Strata girl, do you?"

Ryo snickered. "So Rowen, you have a girlfriend?"

"Shut up!"

"What, Rowen? Does this mean I'm not invited the wedding?"  
"Ryo, can it already!"

"Oh, it's okay, just don't hesitate to name your first born after me or anything-"

"RYO!"

"Let's change the subject!" Yuli (wisely) interjected, picking up the manila envelope in Mia's lap. Ryo and Rowen stopped squabbling long enough to see what he was pointing at. "Everything in the mail was just normal stuff- flyers, bills, and some coupons. But what's this thing?"

Rowen took the envelope from Yuli and looked at it, raising an eyebrow. The envelope was a little bigger than a normal piece of paper and was a little on the thick side. It had a lot of stamps on it and a bunch of marks from the post office. "It's address to all of us except for White Blaze and Yuli," he said.

"Who's it from?"

"The label is from someone named Michael Jones in- Boston, Massachusetts! That's in the United States!" Rowen exclaimed. He turned to Mia. "Do you know this guy or anyone else in the US? I sure don't, and I don't think Ryo or Yuli knows anyone there, either."

"What's the United States?" I asked.

"Another country," said Ryo. "A country FAR, FAR away from Japan than doesn't speak our language- we're talking a few thousand kilometers far away!" He took the envelope from Rowen and looked it over, gently feeling it over. "This is really, really weird- why does this guy want to mail us and how does he know all of our names?"  
"Your guess is as good as mine," Mia mumbled. "Should we open it?"

"Well, it's probably the only way we'll ever find out who this guy is," said Rowen. He took the letter back from Ryo and began to tear at the seal. "Maybe he's a friend of my mom's- you know how much she travels for her job. Sometimes she sends me stuff from the places she visits. But she's never used someone else's name before."

"Then maybe it isn't your mom," said Yuli.

"What about a college?" said Mia. "That one area is supposed to have some of the most famous colleges in the world, including Harvard- that's an Ivy League school. Maybe they're soliciting to us for a research study they're conducting, or perhaps they want to recruit Ryo and Rowen?"

Ryo snorted. "With my grades I'm not getting into any Ivy League school, Mia. Rowen? Sure, no problem- he could probably teach at an Ivy League school if he really wanted to. Besides, you and Yuli are on the envelope, too- you're already graduated college and Yuli's too young for colleges to start looking at him."

"Maybe he's going to start sending Mia lots of letters like that Bill guy," I said.

Once the envelope was open, Rowen reached a hand inside the envelope to start pulling the contents out. "I guess there's really only one way to find out then," he said. He looked in. "Whoever this guy is, he seems to be a shutter bug- I think there's pictures in here and a few-"

WHOOSH! BANG!

"Ah! What was that?" asked Yuli. All eyes turned to the window in the room, which had suddenly flown open. A sudden gust of wind came into the room, blowing papers and light-weighted objects everywhere. The room suddenly darkened, followed shortly by the sky outside as clouds covered the sun. I clung to Rowen's head, afraid to get blown away while Yuli clung to Mia and Ryo took hold of a heavy cabinet.

"What's going on?" Mia screamed over the sound of the wind.

"This is bad!" Ryo said, struggling to keep his hold.

"Show yourself! We're not afraid of you!" Rowen snapped back.

As a bright flash of light briefly lit up the room, we could all the see silhouette of something in the room. Slowly, the wind began to die down, letting us loosen our grips on our safe holds. Silence came, and no one moved. The pause was so pregnant that it was about to go into labor.

SNAP!

Several small fires appeared, lighting the room so we could see who we were faced with. The source of the strong magic was a tall, stocky man with blue skin. He was dressed in a red and black sorcerer's robe that had a sharply pointed hood. His eyes were as red as the red of his robe, several strange black symbols seemingly painted onto his face. In his hand he carried a tall, golden staff with a large, spherical ruby in the center.

"Who are you?" Ryo demanded.

The man slowly turned to Ryo. His eyes flashed briefly, but he didn't answer.

"Mia. . . what's going on?" asked Yuli.

The man slowly closed his eyes and began to speak. "If I'm not mistaken, I am in the presence of the Ronin Warriors, am I not?" he said in a deep, almost sophisticated sounding voice. Ryo and Rowen both dropped their jaws and Yuli clung closer to Mia, obviously frightened.

Ryo shook his head, composing himself. "Yes- I am Ryo of the Wildfire. What do you want? Who are you? Why are you here?" he asked. He was halfway in a fighting stance, ready to attack if the strange man tried anything funny. "Well? Answer me! Who are you and what do you want from us?"

The man looked over at me and began to walk towards me. Rowen stepped backward and I clung closer to his head. "Hmm. . . a dragon. I did not expect to find you in the presence of a dragon. But no matter. Just as well- it doesn't matter, I suppose. But still, this intrigues me."

"Would you answer the damn question already?" Ryo snapped.

Slowly, the man turned to Ryo. "There's no need to be rude," he said. This only made the dark haired youth fume, clenching his fists tighter. "If you're so anxious to know who I am, than I shall tell you who I am- I am known as Demone, the master of the eternal darkness."

My eyes widened. _Oh no. . . not him!_


	6. Chapter Five

Dragonia

By Dixxy

Chapter Five: Spirited Away

(Rowen)

Not a single pair of eyes had left Demone since his dramatic entrance. Especially not Lucky's- whoever this man was, Lucky seemed to know who he was and did NOT like him. By now the dragon had taken refuge down the front of my shirt, poking his head out of the collar to see what was going on.

"Lucky! Who is this?" Mia asked.

"Demone. . . he's awful!" Lucky said, shivering. "They. . . they say that he, he has. . . he has. . . enough. . . p. . . p. . . pow. . . power. . . t, to take over. . . D. . . Drag, Dragonia! Then. . . he, he, he would. . . p. . . p. . .plunge. . . D, Dragonia into. . . an, an eternal darkness. . . of. . . of. . . misery. . . and. . k. . . k. . . chaos! B. . . but. . . but he was, was only a legend!"

At this story the man who called himself Demone began to laugh. "Well, well, little dragon, you may not be totally correct, but I'll give you two points for trying," he said, curling his lips into a devilish grin. "Yes, I do want to plunge the world of Dragonia into a world of darkness and black magic, but I don't have enough power to do that as I am standing here- I would be put down in a second if the Dragon Kin were to retaliate!" Casually, Demone sat down in an open chair and snapped his fingers. A golden goblet materialized in his hand, and he took a drink of a thick, crimson red liquid. I cringed at the thought that it could very well be blood.

"So then what do you want with us!" Ryo demanded. His old temper had flared up again, a sort of inner fire seeming to burn in his eyes. "If it's the armors you want then you won't have enough power- only two of the armors are here. We don't any the whereabouts of the other seven, so you're just wasting your time, especially if you think we'll go down without a fight. There's no way we're just going to let some demon use us to take control over a whole world!"

Demone chuckled, some of the liquid in the goblet drizzling down his chin. "Oh, I fully expect you to put up a fight," he said. He the rivulet of the drink off his chin with the back of his hand and licked his lips. "It would be foolish if any of the guardians of this world didn't fight."

"But what do you want?" Ryo asked again.

"Oh, a few things," he said. Slowly, the demon turned his gaze to where Mia and Yuli were. The former was protecting the latter with arms wrapped around the young boy, both looking at the man in terror. Demone stood, grinning as he began to stand. Ryo and I realized one of the "things" he was after included Mia and Yuli.

"Get away from them!" Ryo shouted, attempting to run towards Mia and Yuli.

Demone turned viciously towards Ryo, Lucky, and myself. "Not a chance, Ronin Rodents- they're MINE now and there's not a damn thing you can do about it!" he spat. He raised his hand, a mass of dark energy circling around the exposed palm. His robes began to billow around him as he eyes began to glow a deep ebony. The three of us were tossed backwards as Mia and Yuli screamed our names, begging us for help.

"MIA! YULI!" Ryo screamed.

I struggled to move, but found myself held against the wall I'd been tossed into by some unseen force coming from our foe. I couldn't move anything- not even a finger- from my position. I tried to scream, but the pressure against my chest from the force (and Lucky) was making it difficult to even breathe, never mind scream. I could only watch helplessly and weep.

_If Sage, Cye, and Kento were only here. . . we might've stood a chance. . ._

Demone grinned, closing his hand into a fist. More energy surrounded the hand, making me wonder if this was the deathblow. He was, after all probably going to end up killing it. He didn't seem like the kind of man who'd leave his prey to live another day. I choked back more tears- was this really how I was going to die? Helpless at the hands of a mad demon man? Is this was we had spent so much time fighting against the Dynasty for? For all of us to die without warning and at the hands of something so violent and horrible we couldn't even begin to comprehend it before it was too late?

Demone opened his hand.

_Good-bye, world. . . Sage, Cye, Kento, I'll see you all soon._

Nothing happened to me.

Instead of the expected kiss of death, I saw a huge, swirling vortex of black, blue, pink, and purple appear in the wall behind him. The force holding Ryo, Lucky and me back disappeared, causing Ryo and I to fall to our knees. Lucky (somehow) got to my shoulder and held tight to my neck in fear. I squinted to protect my eyes from the gale of wind in the computer room, watching as large black shadows reached for Mia and Yuli.

"No! Mia! Yuli!" Ryo shouted, reaching fruitlessly for our friends. Demone laughed at our helplessness and at the helplessness of Mia and Yuli. They were struggling, digging into the floor and grabbing onto furniture in desperate attempts to keep from being pulled into the strange vortex.

"Rowen, what are we going to do?" Lucky asked.

"I. . . I don't know!" I said. "STOP IT!"

"Oh? What are you going to do about it, Ronin?" asked Demone.

Before I could answer, everything went white.

* * *

Once the white faded, I found myself standing in a long corridor. No longer was I in the chaos filled computer lab- Demone, Mia, Yuli, Ryo, and Lucky were no where to be seen. Torches were on either side of me and a royal blue carpet was underfoot. Through the darkness at the end I saw something shimmering and sparkling, beckoning me closer. Without thinking, I obeyed and began to run towards it.

The run was strange, like a dream or a drug-induced hallucination. Everything was in slow motion. My vision was slowly blurred to the point where it looked like the hallway was twisting and twirling before me. Thousands and voices were called my name, yet there was only one that I was listening to. The floor beneath my feet was turning to rubber, swaying with each stride I took. And my mysterious goal only seemed to get further and further away from me.

_. . .Rowen. . . don't give up. . ._

_. . .you can do it. . ._

_. . .keep going. . ._

_. . .you can't give up now. . ._

In a sudden rush, the gap between me and the shinning object closed and I was standing before a pedestal. Set firmly in the pedestal was a sword, glistening in some unspoken glory. Mystified, I extended my hand towards the hilt as my eyes widened in some unknown excitement. My heart was skipping several beats at a time and my palms were shaking.

One finger touched the grip. Two. Then three. And then my hand closed around the hilt. Everything seemed to stop, save my own breathing. I placed one foot on the pedestal, suddenly determined to pull the sword from its resting place. This sword. . . it was calling to me. It was the voice speaking to me. This sword wanted me to take it from the pedestal.

In one swift motion, I removed the blade.

* * *

Just as soon as the mysterious vision had appeared, it also subsided and I was back in the madness of the computer room. But now I was kneeling against something, both hands gripped tightly around it. I raised my head to see what it was, unsure of where it had come from. Or, for that matter, what it was I was leaning against.

I was staring at the blade of a sword.

_What the HELL?_

"ROWEN!"

I snapped to attention and saw Mia, who was now mostly in the vortex. Yuli was nowhere to be seen, and my heart sank as I realized he'd already been sucked in. But there was still hope for Mia. Only her head, a shoulder, and an arm were outside of the vortex, but at least SOMETHING was still in our world. I gaped, screaming her name as I released one hand from the sword and reached for her. But it was to no avail- I was by far too far from her to even touch her fingertips, and she was swallowed up by the vortex.

His deed done, the blue skinned man turned to Ryo and me with an icy smile that ran shivers up and down my spine. "Farewell, Ronins- don't wait up for us, because I can almost guarantee we won't be returning," Demone said coolly. He snickered, bowed in a sort of mock politeness and turned towards his vortex, calmly stepping through. It rippled around him as he began to disappear into the wall.

"Stop!" Ryo was on his feet and running as fast as he could towards the strange vortex. He had an enraged look in his eyes that told me he had NEVER been that pissed off in his entire lifetime. "Get back here you coward! Fight me! See if you come out of it alive you yellow-bellied ass!" Then he fell into the portal.

"Ryo! RYO!" I cried out in desperation. No! I wasn't letting him go into that thing alone! Not without me, at any rate. My hand still wrapped around the hilt of the sword, I got to my feet and charged towards the vortex. "If you're going in then I'M COMING WITH YOU!"

"ROWEN!"

I hit the vortex.

* * *

_Ooo. . ._

"Rowen! Rowen, wake up! Rowen!"

I felt hands on my shoulders, shaking me in attempts to wake me up. I groaned in protest, though the sound was somewhat bumpy from the shaking. I had a headache and the shaking wasn't helping any. "Go away. . . my head hurts. . ." I complained rather loudly. "Lemme sleep already."

"ROWEN! This is NO time for NAP!"

I slowly opened my eyes and found a worried looking Ryo was leaning over me. "Ryo?" I asked. "What's going on?" Slowly, I helped up with a little bit of help from my friend. I placed one hand against my forehead, the other hand clasped around something. I moaned, rubbing my poor head.

"I'm. . . not sure, but I don't think we're in Japan anymore."

I opened my eyes for the first time and looked around. We were in a small clearing of a lush forest that was colored with an explosion of greens. In the distance I could hear birds chirping a lovely song. A soft breeze blew through, kissing my cheeks and playing with my hair. I sat up, looking around in wonder. Everything in this little clearing was peaceful and calm.

Then I snapped back to reality.

"Where's Mia? Yuli? Demone?" I asked, looking around frantically as I tried to get to my feet. Ryo held me down, shaking his head. I swore under my breath, turning my head into one of my shoulder. "Damn it- we've lost them. SON OF A BITCH!" I tightened my grip on the strange object, trying to release my stress into it.

_Huh._

Once Ryo gave me some breathing room, I picked up the object and saw it was, once again, a sword. More than likely the same sword from my "trip" and the one I had just before we went into the vortex. I laid the blade across my lap and looked at it. Though I didn't know much about swords, I knew this was a special weapon made with the utmost care.

The blade itself was made of a well-polished silver metal that was lightweight but heavy enough to cause damage to anyone who crossed its path. Both edges of the sword were very sharp to the touch, as was the tip. The cross guard of the hilt was a blue metal carved in the shape of a dragon (a large one, not the small furry version I was used to in Lucky) in mid flight, the grip wrapped in a soft and sturdy leather. The pommel on the end was a metal ball with a yellow crescent embedded into it.

"Rowen, where did you get that sword?" Ryo asked, sitting across from me as he inspected it was well. He scratched his head and looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "I've never seem one quite like it- it's very nice. You had it in Mia's computer lab as well."

"Wow! This is so cool!"

The two of us turned our attention to the source of the voice. Lucky was sitting on a small tuft of grass not far from us at all. He spread his wings and lifted himself into the air, flying closer to the sword with wide eyes and a slightly open mouth. "Lucky? Do you know what this sword is?" I asked. "If you do, could you please tell us?"

"How did you get it, Rowen?" asked Lucky, placing his face infront of mine so we were seeing eye-to-eye. "You didn't, by any chance, go into a trance and find the sword in a sort of. . . vision, I guess. . . and then snap out of the vision to find the sword in your hands, did you?"

My eyes widened in surprise. "Er. . . yeah."

"Do you know what this means?"  
". . . no."

"You're my Dragon Tamer!"


	7. Chapter Six

Dragonia

By Dixxy

Chapter Six: Dragonia

(Lucky)

"I'm. . . I'm WHAT?"

I looked at Rowen in an all new light. He was my Tamer! I had a Dragon Tamer! I flipped around in midair in excitement and joy. I had a Tamer! Rowen was my Tamer! Now I could find Melody and save her from whatever it was that took her away from me! I was in paradise!

Then I remembered I had OTHER problems.

Ryo and Rowen were both dumfounded. My Tamer was staring at me with wide eyes and a dropped jaw, one hand clenched tightly around his sword. He almost seemed like he was a little confused. Ryo, on the other hand, was wringing his hand nervously like he wasn't sure what to do with himself. He took a sudden interest in the grass and shortly there after began running his hands over it. He pulled up a piece and began to fidget with it.

I landed on the grass directly across from Rowen. He looked down at me, closed his eyes, and sighed heavily. "Well, what next?" he said. Ryo stopped fidgeting with the grass to look at Rowen. The blue haired youth nodded once. "Here we are in some strange place, I find out I'm Lucky's Tamer, and Mia and Yuli are in the hands of a madman."

"Well. . . I think we're in Dragonia, if it help's any," I said. I flew up to Rowen's shoulder and took a perch there. "These trees look familiar to me. Maybe not these EXACT trees, but I know the species, and it's a Dragonian one." The humans stood, looking around as if trying to see if this breed was from their world as well, in which case we wouldn't know where we were.

"I think we should trust Lucky on this one. I've never seen leaves like this before, but then again I never looked very far into the study of trees. So I'm guessing we should try to get out of this forest and see if we can find anyone," Rowen suggested. He lifted blade a little, looking it over. He turned his head to look at me. "Any suggestions as to where I should put this?"

"Um. . . you need to get a sheath," I said.

"Wonderful," Ryo said. "Come on- maybe we can find an information center or something. I've got some change in my pocket so we might be able to buy some sort of supplies- even it's just a few bottled waters." I stared at him for a moment, then nearly fell off Rowen's shoulder from laughing so hard. Ryo glared at me. "What so funny?"

"Ryo, I don't think that Dragonia has all that. This is a world that's based off of magic- their technology probably isn't that far advanced yet," Rowen pointed out. I nodded, confirming his observation. Rowen nodded at me. "But supplies isn't a bad idea- still we don't have any of this world's currency."

Ryo sighed, leaving against a tree and placing his hand on his face. "Great. Mia and Yuli have been kidnapped, we're stuck in a new world- save Lucky, of course- and we don't have any money! Unless we can find Mia and Yuli real soon we're screwed! We won't be able to survive long in this world without some way to pay for supplies or barter!"

"Barter?" I asked.

"That rules out that option," Rowen said dryly. He turned to me. "Lucky? Any thoughts?"

"Well, like we said earlier we should start walking," I said. The humans nodded and began to walk into the closest thing to a path we could find. "Dragonia is a continent on this world- there are other continents, but this species of tree is exclusive to Dragonia so we won't go into those continents yet. Depending on what country we're in we'll be better off. North Dragonia is where most of the Dragon Kin live. The Dragon Kin- hence you, Rowen- are treated very well unless they're trying to free-load or do something disgustingly wrong. West Dragonia is a mountainous snow-capped country. There's a lot of mines there that harvest everything from precious stone to iron ore- find a few rocks and we're set for a few months, but it doesn't look like we're here. South Dragonia is a peaceful, neutral country that makes up most of the artisans and artists of Dragonia. Stuff is pretty cheap there because it's all made there, but you'd need to get money fist. And East Dragonia. . . let's hope we're not THERE."

"Why? What's so wrong about East Dragonia?" asked Ryo.

"East Dragonia is not exactly a cheap place to live. The merchants from the East buy from the South at low prices, then turn around and sell it to their customers back home for very high prices. Not to say they're bad people, but they've evolved into a very greedy people. At least that's the way it is with the merchants and the royal family. The middle class and the lower class are a little stingy because of how expensive everything they need to buy is, but most of them will spare a morsel of bread or a drop of water if someone shows up at their door on the verge of starvation."

"So. . . idealistically, we're in the North or the South. We're probably not in the West because that's a cold, mountainous area. We hope we aren't in the East," said Ryo. He paused. "What's in the center of Dragonia, or do they all kind of. . . meet at one place?"

"Ah. There's a really, really big forest in the center that doesn't really belong to anyone. I don't think we're there because it's supposed to be dark, full of monsters, and made of super tall trees," I said. I squinted ahead. "I think I see light up ahead. Hopefully we're coming towards the end of the woods and not another clearing."

"I don't want to be stuck in these woods the whole time we're here!" Rowen said. He cleared his throat after his mild complaint. "So, what would we do in the South, the North, or the East to get by until we can get back to the Mortal Realm with Mia and Yuli now that we know what they're like?"

"In the South I'm SURE someone would give you guys at least a change of clothing- lately a lot of Dragon Kin have been coming from other worlds and they don't always dress like the people here. From there I'm sure you guys could easily work off a good amount of supplies and then head off to fight Demone or head to the North. In the North we'll probably get a LOT of freebies. If you register with the Dragon Kin, Rowen, you'll get a monthly allowance to survive off of. In the East. . . ask directions to head North," I said dryly.

"Allowance?" Rowen asked.

"It isn't a huge allowance- maybe a few hundred plinkos at the most. Dragon Knights, Maidens, and Matrons get paid more, Lords and Ladies a LOT more, and the Dragon Mage and Sorceress live for free- they don't NEED the allowance at all!" I said. "Normally I wouldn't say this but. . . I don't think it would be a bad idea for you and me to try and get you promoted from Tamer to Knight, Rowen."

"What?" Rowen asked.

"Well, if you become a Dragon Knight-"

"No, not that- you said a lot of names there."

"Oh. Those are different rankings. Tamer is the base rank. Knight, Maiden, and Matron are the next rank up- Knight refers to males, Maiden refers to non-married females, and Matron to married females. Lord and Lady are above that level. Mage and Sorceress are as high as the ranks get, and there can only be one of each- they're the leaders of North Dragonia," I explained quickly. "So. . . would you be up for the challenge?"

"I don't know about this, Lucky- what exactly goes into becoming a Dragon Knight?" asked Ryo, giving me a skeptical look. "I don't think they just let you gain rank like that- if you get a bigger allowance and, well, leverage, I guess, then it can't be something easy to do."

"In our situation it wouldn't be a bad idea to try. Where you two stand now you don't have enough power to stand up to Demone- you couldn't even call up your armors," I said. "Now that Rowen's a Tamer, you're a little stronger, but not by much. If Rowen became a Dragon Knight, he'd be welding a LOT more power. And no, it ISN'T easy, but the benefits are worth it IF you last the whole test."

"A test? Rowen aces tests all the time!" said Ryo.

"No, no, no, not a written exam- well, there IS a written exam, but that's small beans in comparison with the rest of the test. It's a field test," I explained. "A field test that involves some dangerous tasks. Some tasks aren't so dangerous, just tedious, but others can be LETHAL. Tests are mostly done in groups of around thirty would-be Knights, Maidens, or Matrons. About ten will probably end up dropping out. Five or six more will simply flunk out- they just don't cut it and for their own safety they're asked to leave. That leaves about fifteen or so- at least ten of them are more than likely crippled, seriously injured, or killed. Those who survive gain rank."

Rowen bit his bottom lip. "Well, I'm not an inexperienced fighter. I DID fight against the Dynasty and a lot of strategy was involved with that at times. I could probably try out for it- I probably SHOULD try. As we are with just the three of us we probably can't stand up to Demone. If I get the extra power from becoming a Dragon Knight we might stand a chance."

"But are you willing to risk that? If you get killed or something there's no way I could face him by myself!" said Ryo. He frowned. "Rowen. . . you're all I have left unless we get Mia and Yuli back. I don't have a family, Sage, Cye, and Kento are gone, and. . . I'm afraid of being alone."

Rowen gave Ryo a weak smile and a hug. "I wouldn't leave you, buddy," he said.

"We won't let you be alone, Ryo," said Lucky, stretching his arms to TRY and hug us both.

The three of us stood in the woods likes that for at least a minute, sealing our promise. If we could help it, we wouldn't loose each other. We were all each other had. It was just the three of us against Demone, and the whole world. Time seemed to stop for us, letting us know that maybe we could do this after all. We'd lean on each other and help each other. This was all we had.

We were going to take the test.

* * *

It wasn't long before we found ourselves on the edge of what appeared to be a small farming town. The houses were all smallish and cottage like with thatched roofs and red brick fireplaces. The dirt paved road snaked along the main strip, which was dotted with small carts selling food, jewelry, and other supplies. Horses, cattle, and a few dragons were amongst the people going up and down the street, going about their everyday business.

When Rowen saw the people, he got an idea as to how far the people of Dragonia went with technology as compared to their world- not very. They weren't by any means in a Stone Age, but he guessed they were comparable to Europe circa 1400 or 1500. The dress in this town was main a tunic, boots, pants, and a leather belt, most equipped with at least one knife and a small pouch that he guessed acted as a wallet. Even some of the woman wore clothing like that, but most wore plan dresses and aprons.

"Well, doesn't look like we should ask for directions to the nearest McDonald's," Ryo said dryly as we walked closed to the village. A few people stopped to stare at us, then went about their business. My friend turned to me with a very interesting question. "Do you think they speak our language?"

"Nope," I said. "They don't. They speak what you guys would call English."

Ryo laughed. "Ha! Now I see a REASON for all those English classes I took!"

Rowen laughed. "In the Mortal Realm's society it's considered good practice to learn a second practice. Ryo and I both chose English, although I'll admit I've studied some Latin and a little bit of French," he said. He shrugged. "We should be able to get by well enough, and the complete immersion will definitely help out a lot."

"Oh good- I don't want to play translator," I said in English.

"Wait- how did YOU speak Japanese?" Ryo asked, also in English.

I paused and made a face. "I don't know- I didn't even notice I was speaking another language until just now," I said. "It was probably some weird adaptation to find Rowen because he speaks Japanese as his primary language." Ryo and Rowen both gave me a blank stare. "I don't get it either."

The three of us walked into the town, were Ryo and Rowen received a few stares. The people here were obviously used to strangely dressed strangers with dragons, so to them Rowen was just another Dragon Tamer trying to figure out what he was going to do next. Only he brought an equally confused friend with him.

"Ah, a new Tamer I see?"

The three of us turned to see a plump, middle aged woman in a plain beige dress standing off to the side. She had short, curly brown hair and a wide, happy smile. Rowen nodded politely at her. "Hello," he greeted. Ryo gave a shy, quiet wave in greeting. "I, uh, need to find someplace to. . . er. . . I don't know."

The woman stared at Rowen for a few second, then threw her head back and started to laugh. "Oh, you poor deary," she said, waddling over to Rowen. She smiled widely, placed a chubby hand on his shoulder. "Let me take you and your little friend to my home and get your some more appropriate clothing- my brother-in-law is a Dragon Tamer from another world and I know that when he first came here he didn't know what to do with himself either."

Rowen smiled. "Thank you, ma'am- we appreciate this."

"Follow me- I'll get you some food as well."

"Yeah! Food! Thank you a million times over!"

". . . your friend is a bit. . . unstable?"


End file.
